2018

China has unveiled what many are predicting to be the future of urban transport – following the launch of a track-less train which runs on virtual rails. The project has been specifically designed to alleviate the issue of urban congestion - and is being tipped to be the long-term solution required to speed up public transportation in major cities across the world.

The Dutch city of Eindhoven will become the first in the world to implement self-driving cars for large-scale commercial use. The official announcement was made by Steve Neleman, CEO of Amber Mobility at a trade event in Hannover, Germany.

France's regulatory body has expressed its confidence that operators will be in a position to launch 5G services next year, as it formally announced its plans to auction off spectrum for the next-generation technology that is set to revolutionize the world as we know it.

London has reiterated its effort to reduce the harmful levels of pollution in the city by deploying the first ever electric taxis in the city. However, in an effort to maintain the traditional features of the city, the environmentally-friendly taxis will be the iconic 'black cabs'.

Japanese car manufacturing giant Nissan and its software gaming partner DeNA has announced that it plans to commence the public pilot of its self-driving ride-sharing service in Japan early next year. The disclosure represents the latest collaboration between a global car manufacturer and a technology firm that is leveraging automated driving technology into new mobility solutions.

Global business value derived from artificial intelligence (AI) is projected to total $1.2 trillion in 2018, an increase of 70 percent from 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. AI-derived business value is forecast to reach $3.9 trillion in 2022.

A comprehensive report conducted by the IDC has projected that smart city expenditure is set to reach $28.3bn in 2018. The report analyzed the estimated spending on technologies that is set to be integrated in order to facilitate smart city programs in the Asia Pacific.

The UK government has announced that it will begin testing self-driving trucks on public roads in Britain next year. Tests of self-driving trucks in Europe have been ongoing for the last two years, and now the Tory-DUP led coalition government have agreed to introduce the revolutionary technology that looks set to transform the transportation industry.

US telecommunications colossus AT&T has seemingly trumped its major rivals Verizon and T-Mobile US by officially announcing that it will offer 5G services for its mobile customers in a dozen or so markets later this year.

US self-driving company NuTonomy, has announced plans to launch a paid, commercial service in Singapore. The US startup publicly announced its plans last week, and believes it will be in a position to deploy its services in Singapore by the second quarter of next year.